henry kissinger may have been joking back in 1975 when off the record, although it was later transcribed, he said, "the illegal we can do immediately. the unconstitutional takes a little longer." >> secrecy is the linchpin of abuse of government power. if people are able to operate in the dark it is not likely or probable, but inevitable that they will abuse their power. it's just human nature. and that's been understood for as long as politics has existed. that transparency is really the only guarantee that we have for checking those who exercise power. and that's the reason why the government has progressively destroyed one institution after the next designed to bring transparency -- whether it's the media that they turned into the supine creatures or the congress that does more to empower government secrecy than any other -- or the courts that have been incredibly subservient towards sources of government secrecy. one of the only avenues we have left for learning what people in power do are whistleblowers. people who essentially step out and risk their individual liberty, and that's w